Executive Orders

Debt of Honor ends as Jack Ryan is confirmed vice president minutes before a mammoth act of terrorism kills the President, most of his cabinet, all but a few members of Congress, the entire Supreme Court and all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Suddenly Ryan is President, which is where Executive Orders begins.

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Publisher's Summary

Debt of Honor ends as Jack Ryan is confirmed vice president minutes before a mammoth act of terrorism kills the President, most of his cabinet, all but a few members of Congress, the entire Supreme Court and all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Suddenly Ryan is President, which is where Executive Orders begins.

Ryan's responsibilities crush in on him. Where should he begin? He must calm a nation, pacify world leaders, arrange a massive funeral -- while he rebuilds a government as quickly as possible. But that's not all. Enemies abroad and at home see opportunities, and they'll soon present President Ryan with an unimaginable crisis. How will he tackle his greatest challenge ever?

I would hesitate to name any single one of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan books as my favorite, but if I did Executive Orders would probably be it. What an excellent book! When I started reading this series sometime in the late 80's it never dawned on me that Jack Ryan would ever become president. Still Clancy comes up with a plausible if unlikely sequence of events to propel Jack Ryan into the presidency of the United States. My only problem with the whole scenario is that I find it hard to believe that there are any politicians with as much common sense as Jack Ryan demonstrates in this book. Prichard does a good job as narrator of this book although there might be some better choices for narrator. Some people don't care for the detail that Clancy puts into his books or the length of this book in particular. I don't understand that myself. To my way of thinking I got this audio book for entertainment. Isn't 51 hours of entertainment better than 5 hours of entertainment? Would I recommend this book? I sure would!

A monster of a book but worth every cent, this Jack Ryan tale is woven into a great tapestry. The charicters are sublime and they all work. His knowledge on warfare, be it truth or fiction, is of the highest calibre. If you only get one Clancy, get this one but be warned, it is very hard to turn off. Ideal for when you have a week of painting the house or you are confined to quarters!

Several reviews suggested that Tom Clancy and his reader, Michael Prichard, had missed the mark with this edition of Jack Ryan. I am about half through with the book and find it exceptional and the narration is quite good.

Perhaps if you have not read any of the other books in this series, or not seen any of the pictures, you might get lost in the plot. However, anyone who is a fan of Tam Clancy and these charcters should find this an outstanding read. The complaint about the detail is understandable, but this is what Clancy has built his readership.
I was concerned with the negative reviews, but very happy I purchased this book, and find the unabridged version much to my satisfaction.

I have been listening to the complete "Ryanverse" from start to finish. The different readers have different styles but I haven't had an issue with either.

Admittedly its a shock switching from one to another after listening for 40-50 hours but after an hour or so it doesn't matter to me. If it was possible to pick one I would stick with one but so it goes. The Clancy books are a good read or a good listen and that upwards of 55 hours you do get your moneys worth.

I like Clancy, I think. However, this book was implausible at so many levels. It contains a good core story, but is degraded by the reader's performance, subplots that should have been omitted, and offensive undertones.

First the multiple assassination attempts, could have been interesting, but they weren't all developed. The Mountain Men subplot was the worst. When I completed the book, I came to the conclusion that someone demanded this subplot be added. It was not completely thought out. The characters were flat and the story only popped up here and there and ended in a dull thud, never having any climax. I am convinced a publisher demanded it so the book wasn't all about evil Muslims. Seemed like a balancing act.

Now I really did like the Iraqi Ebola plague. Great story there and the war was interesting as well. Had the story concentrated on this and the VP conflict and not chased bunnies down dark holes I would have been happier.

I think Mr. Clancy has much more faith in the press than I do. At one point, he has a reporter confessing to dishonest reporting and apologizing not once, but twice! Even before the writing of this book, reporters were political operatives who put more importance on making political points than getting facts right. No reporter would apologize unless pressured to do so and certainly not twice. In fact, I would expect a reporter who's proven wrong might react like a scorned lover and become even more aggressive and hostile. But that's one personal opinion.

The way Clancy writes sometimes makes me uncomfortable. When he was covering the Mountain Men even the narrative took on the character's voice. The racist verbiage didn't end when the characters stopped speaking or thinking and I found this offensive. I also noticed he peppered in a lot of racist sentiments even into Ryan's interactions with staff. I didn't like this at all.

The narrator. Michael Prichard was just awful reading this one. His cadence was boringly slow, even at 1.5X he sounded slow. His portrayal of different characters was so monotone that at times I wasn't sure who was speaking. His women sounded no different from the males. This book required a ton of accents (like any Clancy book) and I didn't feel he always got them right. Perhaps he was off his game. I listened to the next book and Mr. Prichard was much better, if still slow.

I rated this book overall at 2 stars somewhat out of personal preference but when the good story elements are balanced against the poor, the racial tones, and the poor read, I feel I rated this book correctly. At least in this listener's opinion.

No. I am generally impressed with audio books from Audible.com - the narrators are well chosen and well-directed, but not this one. Clancy's books have so much material that I usually like getting them as audiobooks as listening to the story makes me slow down and read the entire book.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Needs a different narrator.

What didn’t you like about Michael Prichard’s performance?

He's barely better than a computer generated voice. He doesn't used much inflection, he doesn't do anything to help you cue into which character is speaking and his performance does not advance the story in this book.

I love Tom Clancy but this book goes on forever and get bogged down in the military and political intrigue. It doesn't help that the narrator is too soft spoken for me to understand easily. I liked the book okay overall and it is sure a bargain if you pay by the word but I rate this pretty low compared to some of his other great books. It does tell an essential part of the Jack Ryan storyline so it's still a must read if you want to know Jack...

I think it is fair to say that Tom Clancy's tales would not be for everyone! For starters, there's the sheer volume of listening that's required! And then the stories themselves are woven together with many threads. This particular story seems so completely improbable that it is a tribute both to Tom's lively imagination and the Narrator, Michael Pritchard's delivery, that the end result is a story which seems completely plausible!I'm sure others would disagree on that point but I found the descriptions of the various phases of the book quite believable. Tom's writing style has always appealed to me. His account of the battle phases carry comprehensive details of the weaponry used & it's effects. It could all be made up or it could be meticulously researched but the end result is beyond question!If you drive a lot, like I do, or you simply have the time necessary for such a story, then I would recommend it!

I was looking forward to Executive Orders, especially given other reviews and ratings. However, I found the narrator's delivery to be so irritating and monotonous that I have given up listening to it. I now have the printed version and it is an excellent read. I have downloaded many books from Audible and this is the worst by a long, long way. I just wish they would allow occasional returns. I suppose I am in the minority on this one but so be it.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Ruth

Bournemouth, United Kingdom

9/11/12

Overall

"Spoilt"

Was looking forward to this as like Tom Clancy's books but the narrator spoilt it for me. I only got through half the 1st part. It was like listerning to a machine speaking, sometimes I got lost because I didn't realise we'd changed situation - so disappointed.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Lance

Canterbury, United Kingdom

2/4/13

Overall

"51 hours of a single voice"

This book would have been more interesting had the narrator used different voices. It was difficult to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys. Having said that, it was a good story but a bit long winded at times.I normally "read" Tom Clancy's books.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Charles Taylor

9/22/12

Overall

"Executive Orders - Is Rubish"

Very disapointed. The narrator is terrible; his monotone voice and feeble attempts at foreign accents irritates. Clancy's writting is not on form, with continuous self indulgent drivel and a non-existent plot (after 7 hours) - I have given up!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

BASINGSTOKE, United Kingdom

10/2/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Jack Ryan - RIP Tom Clancy 2/10/2013"

What made the experience of listening to Executive Orders the most enjoyable?

The best part of this story was the lead up to the main event which was not really as interesting as war rarely is. Clancy kind of tapers of and the rest of the story kind of pales in to insignificance after that.

What other book might you compare Executive Orders to, and why?

This is the story about how Jack Sr. meets his presidential job head on so any other Tom Clancy book after this is a good way to go.

Did Michael Prichard do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?

I was disappointed with the narrator but as this was done before the Jack Ryan Jr. stories I felt I got more quantity over quality. Would buy this again if it was narrated by the same guy that did Threat Vector.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

This is what the Jack Ryan film should have been about. Hopefully this will be one for 2014/15

Any additional comments?

It's a pity that I write a review the day that the Writer dies. Very sad day as I will have to look elsewhere for something that would even come close to this type of story. I am a Tom Clancy Fan and am gutted that he will never be able to write about Jack Ryan Sr. Jr. ever again.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

rob

derby, United Kingdom

4/13/13

Overall

"scarily predictive"

In a book written pre 9/11 it is a fast paced thriller of the highest order that you expect from Tom Clancy, the plot seemed possible but unlikely, one terrorist attack on the U.S

followed by a chemical warfare attack, the whole premise of the book was tragically mirrored by the events of 9/11 and the following weeks, it is a five star read which when read now is a sad but stark warning to how a small group can wreak havac

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Mr

Sheffield, United Kingdom

12/8/12

Overall

"Gripping"

It was one of those books I just didn't want to end. Even though it is probably one of the longest books I have listened to. I am now a Jack Ryan groupie!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Clive

Cowthorpe, United Kingdom

12/16/11

Overall

"You won't want to put it down"

This is a classic piece dripping tension and intricately complex interlocking blocks from the ever-brilliant pen of Tom Clancy.
I do recommend reading Debt of Honour before reading this book just to catch up with how Jack Ryan got to become US President, but then hang on for another amazing ride.
Clancy is always technically excellent and his ability to create highly complex plot lines is undiminished.
Well worth an Audible credit, and at 53 hours +, it'll take you a month to read anyway !

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

liz

United Kingdom

11/21/11

Overall

"Executive Orders"

This was fabulous. I loved every minute of it. I could be biased because Tom Clancey has yet to write a bad book, in my opinion.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Debra

Tonbridge, United Kingdom

4/13/13

Overall

"A great story"

I am a fan of Tom Clancy and particularly the Jack Ryan novels. I have read this book and the previous Debt of Honor before. I thought I would take a chance on this audio book even though some of the reviews I read were less than complimentary on the reading. I had no problem listening all the way through this book. The reading was not the best, hence the 4 stars, but the story kept me listening.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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